Dolphin Princes and First Kisses
by Zombiegait
Summary: Rune Factory universe. A series of oneshots done for Livejournal's 30 kisses community, revolving around Russell and Tori. Length varies, and rating ranges between K and T.
1. the sound of waves

**A/N:** Alright, so now I'm suddenly obsessed with Russell and Tori from the Harvest Moon game Rune Factory, so I decided to sign up over at Livejournal's 30kisses community, and here's number one. Wrote this over the course of two days I think. It started out as a drabble and turned into a not-so-short ficlet halfway through, but it turned out okay. Please forgive the awful title, lol. For those who haven't played the game (or haven't talked to Tori while she's visiting the beach), she sometimes tells you this wacky story about her daydreams of a prince riding a dolphin coming to meet her. She's... imaginative, I suppose. So I had to include it, of course, lol.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harvest Moon, or these characters, as they belong to Yoshifumi Hashimoto.

* * *

**Dolphin Princes and First Kisses**

He wonders what she thinks about when she goes to the beach. Even after confessing to her, he had never been invited along. He knows it is something he shouldn't worry about – Tori is not the type of girl to date two men at once. But something still irks him about her regular trips to the ocean shoreline. He blames his instincts, honed from years as a warrior, for his suspicions, and tries to focus on shelving the newly arrived books.

She wonders why she still can't take him with her. Staring out towards the horizon where she once imagined her dolphin-riding knight in shining armor – a delusion she blames entirely on a series of romance novels she read as a young girl – she attempts to let her thoughts get washed away by the soothing sound of water pushing itself up further onto the sand. She wants to share this with him – the calming sound of waves she has always cherished – but is still far too timid. She fears he might not enjoy it as she does - Russell is a hard man to read, and such simple pleasures may be boring to him.

He fails at keeping his focus, and is out the door moments after deciding that checking up on her couldn't hurt. He trusts her, of course. This is just to silence the nagging voice in the back of his head that is currently shouting that something is amiss - maybe she got sunstroke, or she got stung by a jellyfish, or she's tripped and broken her leg. All the various scenarios currently running through his head make him quicken his pace, but he hopes that the worst she's suffering from is a little loneliness.

She isn't as comforted by the familiar sound as she once was, and is heading for the library even while her mind remains undecided. Maybe she should ask him to join her today, she ponders silently. After all, there is no point coming out here to relax if all it does is make her feel lonely.

They reach the top of the stairs at the same moment, her eyes focused on her feet and his straining for her silhouette directly ahead, and fall unceremoniously into a startled, jumbled heap together. Both of their glasses have fallen off during their tumble, and they paw around semi-blind for a few moments – apologizing profusely to the other party – finally grabbing what they believe is their own pair only to put them on and realize who they're staring at.

"O-Oh!" they cry in unison. She feels her cheeks turn as red as the apple she ate for breakfast, but her attention quickly turns to the light pink shade of her company's face. She pauses for a moment – she's _never_ seen Russell blush before. Even when he confessed, though he was less composed than usual, there was not nearly as much color in his face as there was now. The redness drains from her face in an instant as the thought that he may be sick or upset or otherwise troubled suddenly takes over her mind, and she's checking for all the signs of fever she has read about recently. She's rattling off questions so fast as her hands come to a rest on his cheeks – "What and when did you last eat?"; "How long have you been outdoors!?" – that she doesn't seem to realize he's leaning forward until she is silenced by a kiss.

A few breathless moments later, he pulls back with her hands still resting on his face, and with a deeper blush on his face now, he smiles sheepishly.

"You just look so cute in my glasses... I couldn't help myself..."

She sits frozen in place, and he wonders for a second if he's gone too far. Of course he has, he sighs inwardly. She is still a young girl, after all, and he has a sneaking suspicion that he may have just given her her first kiss. He gently removes her palms from his cheeks and rests them in her lap, swapping their glasses and standing up before offering his hands to help her up as well.

"Y-You aren't riding a dolphin... b-but..." she begins suddenly, catching him off guard. The subject of her rather random sentence slightly worries him, and he carefully takes her hands and pulls her onto her feet. Maybe she's been in the sun too long, he panics quietly. He decides silently to stop by Edward's to have her checked up on before going back to the library. Resting his arm over her shoulders, he leads her back towards the town. Her next few words are so quiet he almost misses it, but his keen ears pick up her whisper.

"B-better... than a prince," she mumbles, for once not caring at all how red her face has just become. There's something new she cherishes most, and she figures there will be fewer trips to the beach – or any kind of trip, really – without him accompanying her from now on.


	2. our distance and that person

**A/N: **Here's another one, this time from Tori's perspective. And just a note: Russell actually adopted Cecilia - but Tori doesn't necessarily know that, and since I wanted to do a piece from a first-person perspective, I thought it made a fairly decent, angsty ficlet. Well, enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harvest Moon, or these characters, as they belong to Yoshifumi Hashimoto.

* * *

**Matching in Mud**

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!"

Cecilia's gleeful cries filled the library, and I found myself giggling at the adorable way she ran through the door covered in mud. Her face was clean, but a portion of her hair, her headband, and everything below the neckline was covered in mud. The look on her father's face was equally adorable, and I could feel my cheeks burning slightly at the sight of it. The way he tried to scold her for tracking mud all over the carpet, but ultimately giving up and letting her pat his cheeks with her mud-crusted hands, only made me smile more. He really was such a gentle person, being unable to scold such a cheerful face.

I was standing near a bookshelf as I watched them, and when he turned his head and spotted me, I was so startled I nearly knocked it over. He smiled warmly and waved his hand, calling me over. Readjusting my glasses, and trying desperately to make the blush on my cheeks not quite so obvious, I joined them. Cecilia greeted me as enthusiastically as she had her father, and held out her hands.

"Your cheeks, Miss Tori!" she requested with a grin. Glancing at Russell, he only shrugged, so I knelt down across from him and let the little girl between us mark me with her muddy palms. "Matching!" she squealed happily. I looked up at Russell, grinning stupidly, but his eyes were focused on Cecilia.

"What about you?" he asked softly.

"Me?"

"You don't want to be matching, too?" She paused, and a very thoughtful look came over her face. She was silent for a moment, and I was surprised at how seriously she was considering his question.

"But you told me you won't kiss me if my cheeks are dirty," she answered finally, her expression so serious I felt the same pang in my heart I guessed Russell felt almost every time he saw her face. He chuckled and pulled her face close to plant a kiss on both of her cheeks.

"I'm glad to hear you listen to me at least _some_times," he sighed, though his smile was even bigger than before.

"Hehe," she giggled, kissing his cheeks in return.

They really are close, I found myself thinking suddenly. I often wondered what happened to Cecilia's mother, but have always been too afraid to ask. Russell probably doesn't like me enough to share that kind of thing with me, anyway. He and Cecilia moved here only a couple years ago, when she was just a baby, so nobody in the village, that I know of, has much of a clue as to his life before. But I can always tell, just by the way he looks at his daughter, that he loves her very much, as I'm sure he loved his wife before. The thought of him having someone other than me immediately erased my smile, and then the embarrassment of having such jealous thoughts over someone I will never gather up the courage to confess to made my cheeks burn bright red.

But I knew that, even if I _did_ have the courage to tell him how I feel – how I've felt for so long – there will always be someone between us. Even if his wife is gone, Cecilia is his treasure now. It felt kind of strange admitting this to myself as I watched him tickle and laugh with her. Though I felt sad acknowledging I could never be with him, I felt happy just watching him smile. It may have been selfish of me, but I decided to keep loving him despite the wall of his past between us. And I would treasure the sight of his smiling face, and the memory of our matching, muddy, palm-marked faces.


	3. jolt

**A/N:** Holy crap, this one's long. XD;; Got carried away, I suppose. Introducing Raguna! For those who haven't played the game, Raguna is the default name of your character. I haven't read a lot of Rune Factory fics (mainly because I can't find them... ;; ), so I don't know if other authors change his name, but to prevent confusion, I'll just stick with the default.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harvest Moon, or these characters, as they belong to Yoshifumi Hashimoto.

**Exact and Perfect Order**

Russell blinked warily, regarding the young man before him in a tense silence.

Raguna was a warrior, like he had been all those years ago, which was mostly why the two had become friends so fast while the rest of the Kardia was more cautious about welcoming the amnesiac into their lives. Neither made a point to mention it, but Russell got the impression that Raguna looked to him as an elder brother of sorts. Which was understandable, given he couldn't remember if he'd actually had a brother before coming here. And he'd be lying if he said he wasn't honored. The young Earthmate was a formidable warrior and a good man, and that he sought Russell's advice and wisdom for many things made him feel like the two _were_ kin.

But he had never expected to be or actually been confronted like this before – by anyone, really, but least of all Raguna – and he didn't particularly like or understand where it was coming from.

Unpleased with the silence, as Raguna had a tendency to be a tad impatient, the younger warrior leaned further over the front desk, pressing a finger into the librarian's chest with increasing menace.

"What did you say to her, Russell?" Raguna grilled, his tone revealing his growing exasperation.

"S-Say?" Russell replied, his look of confusion earning him no sympathy.

"_Yes_, dammit. What did you _say_?!" He was answered with more silence as Russell thought. This was not what he wanted, however, so he proceeded to jab him a few times with his finger to make sure he still had his attention. "_What did you say_? I've never heard her cry like that. Hell, I've never heard _anyone_ cry that hard!"

Russell continued to look on in bewilderment and mild annoyance at the accusations being thrust at him, his mind stewing in silent thought, before overcoming the initial surprise and finally regaining full use of his vocal chords.

"I think a charged man deserves enough to know who he is claimed to have wronged and a clearer explanation of what he is claimed to have done," he frowned, patiently removing the menacing finger from his chest to prevent anymore annoying pokes. He straightened his glasses and stood up from his chair, his height making him look down slightly at Raguna. The reaction he got was a curious one – the boy seemed more confused than himself for a moment before recovering.

"You can't be serious."

It was a statement, not a question, but Russell felt compelled to answer anyway.

"Of course I'm serious."

Russell never joked about being serious. Some found it a rather off-putting, as it often resulted in miscommunication when he _wasn't_ being serious because no one could tell the difference. He was starting to believe that may be the case here.

"Then you don't remember at all? What you said to Tori yesterday? I was talking to Lucas at the inn when she burst in crying. Lady Ann pretty much kicked me out, and when I went to ask if she was okay this morning, she said that something at work had upset her. Now, either she got a _really bad papercut_, or you said something awful. So, do you remember now?"

Raguna finished with a raised eyebrow. His posture shouted '_Are you really the person I look up to and respect?_', but Russell missed it completely. His eyes had widened, but he wasn't really looking at anything as his mind was currently replaying and going over yesterday's events.

--

_Russell was trying hard to concentrate on his task. He had put it off for quite a while, and was a bit irritated at himself for letting things get this bad. As this was a public library, everyone in Kardia had access to the books resting on the shelves before him. That was not to say that they all respected and understood that he was particularly picky about everything being in the_ exact and proper order _he had established for his precious books the same way he did. This often left books in precarious places, where he could simply sense they did not belong, but others seemed to find perfectly acceptable spots to return them._

So that afternoon, after spending three hours already, he estimated he was only about a third done with his task. Luckily, though, while this task would normally take him at least a day and a half, he had a lovely young woman helping him, which had already sped up the project tremendously. As he paused in his task, he 'casually' glanced over at said woman, and noticed – not for the first time that day – with a flutter of his heart that she looked nothing short of beautiful, even though she was wearing more casual clothes than normal, and she was carrying rather large piles of books in front of her. Realizing he was gawking, he silently reprimanded himself for getting distracted again, and returned to rearranging books.

Unsurprisingly, Russell was finding it more and more difficult to concentrate on the task at hand. He was currently in the fiction section, which was arranged alphabetically by author, but when his eyes weren't deviating from the spines in front of him, he was finding non-fiction works about cooking resting between a book of poems and a compilation of myths. Now that was just upsetting.

After another hour, he was steadily growing more and more nervous. He wasn't sure that was the right word for the feeling he felt, but he certainly wasn't calm. Tori had caught him a couple times looking over at her, and the feeling he got was a mix of embarrassment and giddiness, which only proved to make him even more _nervous. Neither spoke about these silent exchanges – not that they had been speaking much otherwise – though Russell noted that Tori's cheeks had been stained a light pink for the last ten minutes, which introduced a familiar fluttery sensation into his stomach._

Russell was now almost done with the entire row of shelves, save for the rather short 'J' section at the bottom of the last shelf. His eyes lazily glanced over the spines in front of him, and had Tori not disappeared behind one of the shelves across the way, he might have missed the out of place book. However, he did _spot it, and quickly pulled it out from between a pair of books about fairytale stones that were fairly popular with the young women of Kardia. Normally, he would have taken one quick glance at the author's name and tossed the book into the appropriate sorted pile behind him, but he realized that this was not a book he had seen before. In fact, it lacked a title or author completely. Growing curious, he flipped it open and scanned the first couple pages, quickly realizing it was a diary of some sort. He did not read it long enough to identify it, and felt rather uncomfortable about continuing to do so._

So, naturally, he called for Tori to do it.

"Y-Yes?" she asked timidly, peeking around the edge of the bookshelf.

"Some girl seems to have left her diary among our books. I feel a bit... awkward reading further to determine the author. Would you mind doing so and returning it to... the proper... Are you alright?" Russell interrupted himself, noticing she looked a bit pale.

"N-No! I mean, y-yes! I-I'm fine!" she stuttered rather unconvincingly. He raised an eyebrow, but didn't press her.

"Yes... Well, when you find the girl, please tell her not to use the library as a hiding place for her silly notebook. I'm sure she wouldn't want anyone reading her private scribbles anyway, no matter how pointless."

He found himself rambling to try and hide his embarrassment at having invaded a young woman's privacy, and quickly handed the book off with no further thoughts about it as he returned to checking the shelf.

From what he'd read on the first few pages, all that had really been there were schedules of shops around Kardia, a couple lyrics to the songs played at festivals, and some doodles of dolphins. He figured anyone would have found such things trivial and not all that damning, were one to come across that diary, but he did not know what the rest of the pages contained – and he was too embarrassed to find out himself.

However, Russell did not see Tori's expression to his comments, as she had run out the door. When he looked up after a moment, he realized she was no longer around. He assumed she knew the author and had quickly gone to return it. He had been a bit concerned when she did not return, and even stopped by the inn to ask Ann if she had seen her daughter. She said Tori had returned but was not feeling well at the moment, and with a particularly searing expression, effectively shooed him out of her home.

--

Russell remained silent for a few more minutes before the sudden shock of understanding, fear, guilt and embarrassment jolted through his body, returning his mind to the present, where he was currently standing with his concerned, if a bit rash, friend.

"Oh... Oh no. It belonged to her," he mumbled quietly. Raguna raised his other eyebrow, recognizing the dawning comprehension and horror on Russell's face, and slapped a palm to his forehead.

"Dammit, Russell, what did you say?!"

"I think... I seem to have implied that her innermost thoughts and secrets were 'silly' and 'pointless'," he ground out, removing his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose. Raguna seemed to find his reaction lacked remorse, and took it upon himself to grab the older man's shoulders and shake him vigorously.

"_YOU IDIOT_!" he shouted. After another few moments worth of shaking, he released Russell's shoulders and returned his palm to his forehead. Despite the shaking, Russell remained silent and still until Raguna spoke again. "... Well? Are you just going to stand there?"

"... Hmm?"

Russell was surprisingly more despondent than he'd ever seen him. For a moment, Raguna was pleased that the man – who was so _clearly_ an idiot in the workings of women despite his being several years older – understood his own stupidity, and was acting accordingly. The only other time he'd seen the man so obviously upset was when the library roof leaked and nearly destroyed an entire sections' worth of books. But even then, he didn't look _this_ troubled.

Letting out a sigh and shaking his head, he grabbed Russell's arm once more, dragging him towards the door.

"Wha--" Russell began, fumbling to put his glasses back on, but was promptly cut off by a forceful shove outside.

"Talk to her. And this time, don't insult her." Even though it was Russell's home, as well as his workplace, Raguna effectively locked him out and left him with no choice other than to track down the young blonde he realized he had insulted far worse than he had ever insulted a woman before. On his rather slow walk towards the inn, he continued to verbally abuse himself silently, shocked that he had done such a thing without realizing it.

Of course Tori had run off. _It was her diary_, and he had mouthed off about it not having anything worthwhile within its pages. She was a timid, sensitive girl, and he knew that. He thought he was careful, too, not to make her uncomfortable or worried when they were together. After all, he liked her much more than the other young women in Kardia. She was smart, even if it took a while for her to warm up to you enough to start actually showing you how smart she was. She respected his privacy, and did not press him for information about his previous war experiences – unlike almost everyone else in the village. And she was beautiful; not that the other girls _weren't_, though. But she could look more stunning in a pair of overalls and her big, clumsy-looking glasses, beneath a pile of books, than any of the girls when they dressed up for those romantic holidays held throughout the year.

But most importantly, she understood and adhered to the exact and proper order he had established for his precious books. Something he had accepted a long time ago that no one else could do, particularly not his own daughter Cecilia.

These weren't new realizations however, and he felt like an even bigger fool – if that was possible at that point and time – to have not told her before pretty much ruining any chance he had with her.

All of his thinking, however, had taken surprisingly less time than he expected, and no sooner had he finished his last thought than he was standing in the doorway of Lady Ann's inn. She looked up and spotted him, and immediately the look in her eyes changed from one of _'Welcome dear customer!'_ to _'If you've hurt my baby girl, I will end you.'_, though her placating smile remained.

"Um... Is Tori--"

"She's not feeling very well, I'm afraid, so if you'd like to return _some other time_..."

Lady Ann was a very intimidating woman, it has to be said. She had lost her husband several years ago, was currently raising two teenagers alone, ran her own business, and _still_ managed to have enough energy left to make a man, who had seen terrors worse than anyone save maybe Doctor Edward, struggle to stop from shaking in his boots the way she stared at him.

But Russell was more determined than she was frightening, and she relented after a few minutes of tense staring in silence.

"She's upstairs in the kitchen"

"Thank you, Lady Ann."

He reached the kitchen in short order, and felt his courage almost immediately leave him.

Tori wasn't wearing her glasses, her face was red and swollen from a day spent crying, her hair wasn't in braids for the first time in a long time, and the table before her was littered with tissues and uneaten snacks her mother must have prepared for her throughout the day. Her chin was resting in her hands, while her elbows rested on the diary that had started this whole mess. She hadn't seemed to notice him, but he was filled with sight of her. So distraught and saddened by his careless words, and he was more angry with himself than he remembered ever being before. But he knew what he had to do, despite the steadily growing urge to rush back down the stairs, run back to the library, and thoroughly beat himself to death on his own desk.

"U-Um, Tori?" he began shakily. He hadn't heard himself sound so afraid since he was a boy, he noted.

Her eyes immediately met with his, and while yesterday their shared looks made his heart flutter, their locked gaze now only made his heart sink. More tears welled in her eyes, and he saw her eyes glance several times across the hall at the door to their left that he assumed was her bedroom. All the words he wanted to say seemed determined to leave him, and as she put on her glasses and slowly stood, the panic in him began to increase.

"W-Wait--" he started again, even more unsure than before, and he took a step forward that seemed to freeze her in place. He tried to speak again, but realized he had been holding his breath, and promptly sucked in as much air as he could before letting it out again. His nerves were still just as jittery, but his mind realized what needed to be done.

Another step forward, and another timid jerk. She wasn't crying, and she wasn't running – both he took to be good signs – but he had yet to properly fix anything. Taking one more deep breath, he closed his eyes and spoke in a voice weaker than he'd ever heard himself use before.

"I-I think I've properly gone and insulted the one woman I've ever felt this way for in the worst possible way." He didn't dare open his eyes, but he noted her sharp intake of breath. Was he saying the right thing? But he couldn't stop now. He had already started. "In your diary, all I saw was the first couple pages. The dolphin drawings – which are pretty impressive, by the way," he chuckled before scolding himself and continuing, "the words to a couple songs, and a few shop schedules. I've never had a diary, so I don't know what goes into them, but I guess I always assumed it was deep, dark secrets or something, and that's why when I only saw that stuff I called it silly and pointless, because I thought that kind of stuff could go into _any_ notebook, and if I had known it was _your_ diary I wouldn't have said anything at all, and none of this would have happened, and I wouldn't have made such an enormous ass of myself, and... I'm rambling. Anyway, I just... I hope you understand that I would never think of you as 'silly' or 'pointless'."

He dared to open his eyes at that point, and he was quite distraught to see her fighting back tears again.

"O-Oh no! Oh, damn, I'm sorry! Uh, h-here!" he scrambled awkwardly, picking up one of the few unused tissues he could see on the table and quickly walking over to offer it to her. He was startled when Tori grabbed her diary off the table, flipped it open to a certain page, and shoved it into his face before he could take any more steps forward, blushing wildly. His eyes lingered on her – while her gaze was trained solely on the suddenly _fascinating_ floor tiles – before trailing over the pages presented to him. His eyes widened in sudden understanding, and he was once again floored by his own idiocy.

"So... this is what you thought I was referring to?"

A quick nod.

"You thought I had rejected you?"

More rapid nodding, and a single tear she couldn't hold back. He couldn't stop the grin that was quickly spreading over his face, and before he could stop himself, he had pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head, her diary falling to the floor with a dull thud. Russell was a tall man, and though he hadn't hugged anyone other than Cecilia since he was a little boy, he thought Tori fit just right in his arms, beneath his chin.

"I love you, too," he sighed into her hair, and he smiled as he felt her wrap her arms around him and squeeze him tight.

Beside their feet, the diary lay open, revealing the page he had just seen. "_I love you Russell,"_ was written in her neat cursive.


	4. violence

**A/N:** Ugh. Finally managed to finish this one. I didn't know how to end it for the longest time, so I'm not really sure I like it, but oh well. I just want to post it and get on with the next one. XD

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harvest Moon, or these characters, as they belong to Yoshifumi Hashimoto and Natsume.

* * *

**Phases**

Russell was twelve when he lost his parents in war.

They had been a humble family, living in an out-of-the-way village in Norad country, running a small farm. He had been working with his father since he was eight, but when ever he had some free time, he'd spend it in his father's library. It was gigantic – or, at least, it seemed it at the time – and he would often get lost among the rows of books, reading until his father came and literally dragged him to dinner. He didn't want to work on a farm all his life, he had decided. No, he wanted a library of his own, surrounded by books all the time.

The war left his out-of-the-way village home completely devastated. A week before his birthday, he had lost his family, his home, and his hope. But he did not cry. All surviving men were enlisted into the Royal Legion to help squash the rebel effort, including Russell. He was a fast learner. They only had a week to train the new recruits, and by the end of the week, he was better than the instructors.

Russell was thirteen the first time he killed a man with his sword.

He became the Legion's key fighter within six months. The rebel army was less than a third the size of the Royal Legion, but what they lacked in size they more than made up for in persistence. They were merciless, determined, and strong. Russell was more savage, stubborn and powerful than their best fighters. He never lost a battle, retreated or surrendered. He killed with a straight face and a steady hand, and even frightened other Legion warriors. He was a monster.

Russell was sixteen when the war ended.

He was removed from the Royal Legion and assigned leader of an unnamed task force to stifle any later efforts by the remaining rebels. He no longer killed, but ordered others to kill. He kept the sword he had used since his thirteenth birthday at his side at all times. It was his prized – and, really, _only_ – possession. He issued his orders and carried out his duties with unmatched detachment and proficiency. He was quite aware of what he had become, and he detested himself for it. But his dreams of peaceful libraries and a family of his own were no longer possible, so he resigned himself to his duty as a murderer.

Russell was just eighteen when his new life began.

He and his task force had just annihilated a village thought to harbor Sechs Empire rebels – the Empire was a none-too-friendly neighbor of Norad – but had only contained foreigners. Bodies of elves, sorcerers from far off lands, and tamed monsters littered the streets of the crumbling town. Some of his men kicked at the remains, checking for life. He didn't care for the way they disrespected the dead, and so set off to make the small grave marker he left at every site he sent his task force to. On his way, he heard it – a baby's crying, stifled by something covering it.

He searched frantically for the source of the noise. He didn't even know why he needed to find the child, but his heart was beating faster than it had in years, and he felt an unfamiliar emotion quickly gripping his chest. He came upon the source in a matter of moments. Years as a warrior left his senses highly acute and deadly accurate. A woman lay dead before him, but the blanket-wrapped child remained cradled firmly in her arms. His hands reached out to take the child, and he realized they were trembling – something they had not done in years.

A baby girl – a year old, he judged – crying and slightly bloody calmed almost instantly in his awkward hands. He had not held a child before, but any warmth comforted the girl. He pulled her into his arms and wept.

He deserted Norad that day. When he had composed himself as best he could, he stood and walked out of the village, leaving everything – his task force, his loyalties, his past – but his sword behind him. As he wandered absently along paths of the country and through various towns and cities, searching for a place where no one recognized his Legion uniform, he decided upon a name for the child. Cecilia, after his mother.

Russell was still eighteen when he stumbled into Kardia.

He had gone an entire year without killing. The Norad king was smart enough not to send anyone out to kill him, either, as he knew they would fail. The mayor was surprisingly kind, though he recognized the young man's uniform. He said a father with no home for his daughter is no father at all, and proceeded to give him one of the two-story homes towards bottom of the village in exchange for his sword.

He handed it over, and never thought of it again.

After making his daughter and himself some new clothes, Russell spent the next few months becoming acquainted with the villagers, potty-training Cecilia, learning he needed glasses, receiving his first pair from the town doctor Edward, and turning his large house into something he once thought he'd never be able to have. His own library.

* * *

Tori was twelve when she first met Russell.

The town had never had a newcomer before. All the children were curious, of course, but Tori found him fascinating after she bumped into him the first time. He had patted her head hesitantly before simply smiling and walking away, but the attention, however brief, left her with the desire to know more about him.

Since Doctor Edward spent so much time with the young man after he first arrived, Camus knew a lot more about him than the others, and the girls spent most of their time asking him when they couldn't see for themselves. He said the strange man was only six years older than they were, and wouldn't talk about where he came from to anyone, but he had a baby girl with him. She was an elf, he said, which resulted in lots of awed looks and shouts of, 'You're making it up!'. Other than that, he continued, he was just a boring guy that liked books a little too much.

Tori was sixteen when the library was complete.

Over the last four years, her encounters with Russell remained few and far between, though she spent a lot of time with Cecilia. Lady Ann was asked to babysit the young girl quite often, as Russell often left for several days to go find books for his growing library. Tori grew attached to the toddler as she aged, but was still painfully shy around her father. When the library was finally finished, and he no longer required a babysitter, he surprised her by asking if she'd like to work at the library with him. He said he could tell she had grown attached to his five year old. She surprised herself by accepting without stuttering.

Tori was eighteen when the second newcomer arrived.

Her curiosity regarding the young man named Raguna was far less than that of the other girls. They were excited that a boy their age had suddenly appeared, and immediately began their best efforts to win his affections. Tori was strangely brave around him, speaking more to him than she had to Russell in six years of knowing him after only a month. He visited the library every day, and she grew to like him so much she no longer stuttered around him, though her blushing remained.

However, the majority of her attention was focused on the original newcomer. Her feelings had been changing from quiet admiration to a deeper feeling of love as she spent time among the books with him, played together with his daughter, and spoke with him every day, though she was positive he still only thought of her as the little twelve year old he had bumped into all those years ago.

Tori was still eighteen when she discovered several things about Russell.

The first thing she learned was that he could not hold his liquor. After only two drinks, he was no longer in proper control of his legs, his eyes or his mouth. She had discovered this when she had run into him at the bar late at night to try and find Zavier when he had stayed out after curfew. Her brother was on his way out the door when she entered, but a very inebriated Russell had made her stay behind. That was how she now found herself struggling to hold up the drunken librarian as she walked him down the road to his home and workplace.

The next thing she had discovered was Cecilia was not his daughter by birth. He had actually found her when she was just a baby – where and how he did so, however, he would not share. As little control he still had, his resolve to never speak about his past before coming to Kardia was as unshakable as ever. By this point, she had managed to set him down on one of the couches inside the library. His arm no longer draped over her shoulders, she suddenly felt cold, but went to work finding a blanket for him upstairs as he continued rambling about how hard it was learning how to change diapers that first year. When she returned downstairs, he was no longer talking. In fact, the silence was more disturbing than his unusual boisterous behavior.

The third thing she found out, as she draped the blanket she had procured from his bed over him, was that he was in love with her. Not the most romantic ways to discover something like that, she admitted, but it made her heart flutter, her hands freeze, and her face turn extremely red. He hadn't seemed to notice her reaction, though, as he began speaking again, albeit in a quieter tone than he had used their entire journey from the bar to his couch. He was an old man with bloodstained hands, he began – which she did not understand at the time, because his hands lacked any cuts or marks whatsoever – and he doubted he deserved love after all he had done, and he knew she had a thing for that kid who was always around, but he hoped she would have pity on him and humor him anyway, even if just for a little bit.

Tori surprised them both by leaning down and kissing him clumsily. It was obviously her first ever, and his first in years, and though he was hindered by alcohol, he somehow registered what was happening and was enjoying it thoroughly before yawning just after she had pulled away for air and falling back onto the couch, unconscious.

The blonde paused for a moment, and for the first time in her life, had to fight the urge to hit somebody over the head with a very large book.


	5. say 'ahh'

**A/N:** College has started, _and_ I just turned eighteen yesterday (I feel so old! sobs) so it's been tougher to work on these. Here's the latest one. I've already got another one that I've started working on, but the style is pretty different from this one. Hopefully I'll pull it off okay. xD;; Anyway, enjoy (and thanks for your patience)!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harvest Moon, or these characters, as they belong to Yoshifumi Hashimoto.

* * *

**Confessions**

If there was one thing Russell couldn't turn down, it was food. Chinese manju, in particular. Whenever someone upset him – either by accidentally knocking over books he was in the middle of rearranging, unknowingly tracking dirt onto the library carpet, or forgetting to put the books back on their shelves after reading them – they would appear the next day at the library carrying homemade manju, just for him. And in a flash, his sour mood – which, in all honesty, wasn't all that sour – would be replaced by a warm welcome and a genuine smile as he took the offered treat and finished it with a handful of large bites.

Tori knew this because she happened to do it herself quite frequently. Even though she had gotten less clumsy over the years, she was still rather absent-minded, and never failed to get the carpet dirty at least three times each season. In the spring, it was mud from all the rain. Throughout the summer, her regular trips to the beach meant that sand littered the library. The fall was least problematic, as leaves were easier to clean up than dirt. And winter meant lots of snow and wet footprints all over the carpets and hardwood floors. Russell would pout, avoiding her eyes and letting out loud, exaggerated sighs as she walked behind a bookshelf. She found this behavior cute despite herself, and would excuse herself for lunch and come back with his favorite treat. It worked every time.

Which was why Tori was rather confused, and more than a little worried, at the moment. Russell wasn't obviously upset like he normally was, but he _was_ obviously different. He had been in this particular funk for nearly a week now, and after he rejected her manju that first day, she hadn't dared attempt again. She had never seen him behave like this. All of his interactions with her and expressions he showed were faked or awkward, as if he didn't want to do anything but stare at his feet all day.

"Erm, Russell? Are... Are you feeling alright?" she finally managed to ask on the holiday after his odd behavior had started.

Since the library was closed, he had been wandering about town like he usually did when she ran into him after leaving church. Tori kept her hands behind her back, holding in them a small box with another Chinese manju she had prepared. Today she was going to find out what was wrong, and hopefully an offering of his favorite food would make it easier to pry it out of him. It seemed to take him a moment to register her question before a surprised – and _natural_ – expression appeared on his face.

"O-Of course, Tori," he mumbled after a few moments of silence, his features settling into a look of discomfort. Now, normally, Tori would never press someone when they obviously did not want to be pressed – she was naturally passive, and it seemed mean to make someone feel awkward like that. But she knew that something was wrong with Russell, and if she didn't try and get it out of him now, she might never find out what was bothering him so much.

"I can t-tell that you're... lying," she finally managed to spit out after several moments of hesitation, staring down at her feet. Russell said nothing, but his eyes were wide behind his glasses. "... Please t-tell me what's... what's going on!" After a moment, he opened his mouth to respond, and was promptly silenced at the sight of Tori's small box being practically shoved into his face.

"Um... What's this?" he asked, taking it from her to examine it.

"... Manju." She slowly raised her head, slightly more daring after hearing a bit more calmness in his tone. The look on his face, however, dispelled her courage in an instant. His eyes were locked on her, and they screamed, "Why?", as if her offering hurt him greatly. She instantly regretted ever thinking of tempting him with manju ever again, and began stepping back slowly, preparing to run.

"I-I-I'm r-really sorry, R-Russell. I-I d-didn't mean... I-I'll--"

The terror left her in a rush as she felt him lift her chin and press his lips to hers. He was kissing her. Russell was _kissing_ her! She was confused, startled, worried, and incredibly happy all at the same time. But just as she began to respond, he pulled back, the same look of hurt radiating out of him as when she had revealed her offering was his favorite snack.

"... Why, Tori?"

"What?" she asked when she could finally speak again.

"Why do you have to tempt me?"

This didn't make any sense. He was talking to her as if she had just slapped him, after he had just kissed her! The excitement from the kiss was still pulsing through her, and an unusual courage suddenly overcame her. She grabbed the box of manju back from him, pulled out a piece, and held it up to his mouth.

"Say 'ahh'."

It was Russell's turn to be confused.

"... What?"

"Open your mouth, and say 'ahh'." Her calm and confident expression disguised her inner nervousness, but he didn't seem to pick up on it. Instead, he did as he was told, and she promptly slid the small piece into his mouth. As he chewed, the corners of his lips tipped upwards into a smile.

"So you _do_ still like it... Why did you turn it down when I offered earlier?" she asked, not waiting for him to finish. The growing smile quickly disappeared, and he scratched at the back of his neck awkwardly as he swallowed.

"I thought it would make it easier."

"... Make what easier?"

"Getting over you." _That_ quickly killed her confidence.

"... W-What?"

"I fell in love with your manju first, you know. Every time you thought you did something wrong, you'd bring me some. Before I knew it, I fell in love with _you_, and I knew that would make you uncomfortable so--"

"Y-You're in love... with m-me?" she interrupted once the words properly registered. A furious blush was quickly covering her entire face, and she fought to keep from fainting.

"Yes," he answered easily, "but I guess now that you know, I won't be seeing you around much, right?" He was staring at his feet now, though his eyes occasionally flicked up to look at the box in her hands.

She took a deep breath, still fighting off unconsciousness, placing the box containing the rest of her manju into his hands. "... I love you, too, Russell, but you can be really dumb." And with that, the rest of her confidence was spent, and she fainted. He caught her easily, but felt slightly lightheaded. He lifted her carefully into his arms, and headed back towards the library, wondering if he could have manju more often if he confessed his desire to marry her, too.


	6. our own world

**A/N:** Alright, this is my most... risqué, I suppose the word is, ficlet yet. I still can't write full on smut, but perhaps with time I'll grow braver? It's all the KakaSaku, I'm telling you, lol. Anyway, enjoy. C: (And yes, I totally wrote this in like a half hour. XD)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harvest Moon, or these characters, as they belong to Yoshifumi Hashimoto.

* * *

**Library Affair**

He has loved her for a long time. No one else knows yet, but he's aware that a few are suspicious. She's six years his junior, and he has a daughter already, and though he's sure no one would outright disapprove, there's still doubt in him. Maybe she'd lose interest if it wasn't secret. Maybe she'd show her braver side to everyone else if it was in the open. _That_ he certainly doesn't want.

She is incredibly passionate, which most would find surprising considering her usual shy nature. During closing hours, when no one ever comes by, she pulls him between the bookshelves and kisses him forcefully. It surprised him the first time, but he anxiously anticipates it now. Each time he fights the urge to take her then and there because he's sure she's not ready and he's too eager. But when he feels her fingers tugging at his belt, it makes the struggle that much more difficult.

Today it's a holiday, but it's snowing outside, so he's inside tending to the books while his daughter is out having snowball fights and everyone else is either at church or at the bar. She doesn't stop by on holidays often – she works every other day of the week, after all, and he insists that she have at least one day off, though he is occasionally tempted to be selfish and ask her to come by anyway. No one else comes by much either, after all.

A soft knock at the door removes him from his thoughts, and he lets out a sigh as he puts down the books he was carrying to open it. He has an idea who it is – Raguna tends to stop by to say hi at the most random times – but is surprised to see _her_ standing there, flushed and smiling. He's not sure if it's the only cold that's making her blush so red, especially as she pushes him inside slowly, her gentle smile quickly transforming into a small, devilish grin. She shuts the door behind her and locks it, and now he knows exactly what she's come here for.

He helps her remove her scarf and large coat slowly, hoping she's only stopping by for a little bit. He won't be able to stop himself this time, though he has a growing suspicion that she's well aware of that.

Within moments of her extra winter clothing hitting the floor, her arms are around his neck and she's kissing him fiercely. He used to wonder how she managed to be such a great kisser – but that train of thought made him uncomfortable, and he quickly stopped trying to figure it out. The moment he feels his coat fall off, however, he pushes her away gently but forcefully enough to catch her attention.

"Don't," he commands, his voice echoing some of the fierceness he used to exude in spades before he came to this town.

But she seems unfazed, and the grin that had temporarily disappeared is back on her face as she slowly removes his hands from her shoulders and resumes disrobing him. He wants to stop her – _needs_ to stop her – but she has him mesmerized. He tries again to speak, but she places a gentle kiss on his lips that quiets him instantly. In moments, he's in nothing but his pants and shoes. His glasses have been displaced as well, but he doesn't really need them. He can see her perfectly fine, and the slight redness of her cheeks compels him to lean forward and kiss her again.

This time, she is the one to push him away, and he fears for a moment that she's realized what exactly she's doing. But her face is still as confident as before, kicking off her shoes and pulling off her own socks. She has taken his hands and brought them around to where the sash around her waist is tied now, smiling at him as she does so. He slowly begins to untie it, his fingers trembling more than he can remember them ever doing so before. Her hands are resting around his neck, playing gently with the hair at his nape. When the sash is undone, it falls around her feet, and he realizes that now he can pull her dress straight over her head, and she will be in nothing but her underwear if he does.

"T-Tori..." he begins, his concern for her – or is it more a concern for himself? – stopping him from what his fingers are itching to do.

"It's alright Russell... I know what I'm doing."

There's that confidence. That bravery that she exudes only when she knows _exactly_ what she wants, and when she knows she's going to get it. She told him once that he's the first person she has ever shared this side of her with, and it swells him with so much glee and love each time he remembers it that he wonders if he'll burst.

It melts him, and within seconds he has her naked, attacking her with kisses as gently as he can while being as hungry for her as he is. She's making quiet noises he hasn't heard from her before, and he wonders if this is what heaven is like.

He has always loved the library. Before her, it was all about the books. He could lose himself in fantasies he never would have imagined on his own. After her, it was still partly about the books. But mostly, it was about how it served as their own little world where they could live out fantasies together. The place where peering eyes could not penetrate; where she could show him what she had never shown anyone before; and where he could whisper and hear, "I love you," for the first time with her, the woman he truly loves.

He takes her upstairs to his bed and makes love to her, passionate but gentle and slow. It is her first time, and the first time he's felt like this. When the pain subsides, that knowing, confident smile is back in place, and together they tumble into ecstasy.

Around dinner time, she is dressed again and heading for the door. Cecilia will be returning soon, and she needs to go home as well. But before she reaches the door, he grabs her by the wrist and tugs her backwards into his arms. She's startled, but makes no move to escape from his grasp.

"... I want them to know," he says quietly.

His heart is hammering in his chest now. Will she lose interest, just as he feared? Will her braver side become something she shares with everyone? However, his anxiety does not outweigh his desire to let everyone know that she is his to love, and his alone. He is surprised when she lets out a giggle.

"I thought you'd never ask."

"... Wait, wasn't it your idea to keep it secret?"

"No..." she says slowly, carefully turning around in his arms to look up at him, "I never wanted to keep it secret. You just seemed to like it more, so..." The shyness is back, manifesting in a slight red blush across her cheeks. He loves her confidence, but her bashfulness is what he fell in love with in the first place. He chuckles, leaning down and kissing her once more for good measure before releasing her and pushing her towards the door.

"Well, since that's settled, you should head home. I've got some announcing to do."

"A-Announcing?" she repeats, confused.

"Yup. Can't let any of the boys in town keep thinking you're available," he grins. The thought of telling Raguna exactly where to shove his pumpkin pudding gifts is an extremely pleasing one indeed. She seems less enthusiastic, but slowly unlocks the door and begins to head out.

"... Russell?" she calls back to him before closing the door behind her.

"Hmm?" he asks, slowly pulling on his own coat.

"... T-Try not to say anything... e-embarrassing, okay?"

"Of course," he smiles, which seems to put her at ease as she departs, smiling in return.


	7. red

**A/N: **This was originally gonna be onesided angst, but I just can't resist the fluff. I'm really pumping these out now. XD

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harvest Moon, or these characters, as they belong to Yoshifumi Hashimoto.

* * *

**Red**

It was hard not to notice her, considering she had been right in front of him virtually _everyday_ for the past six years, but Russell still managed to take his sweet time. She had been working at the library since she was fifteen, and had been babysitting Cecilia since she was twelve. She was eighteen when he noticed it.

Tori had the most beautiful, bright red lips.

It was staggering how much time he spent looking just at her mouth. Watching her bite gently at her lower lip as she struggled to reach one of the higher shelves. Glancing briefly at the surprised "oh" she formed as he leaned over her and grabbed for her what she wanted. Staring mutely at the small smile she granted him for his aid before her cheeks turned pink and she walked away to continue her tasks.

He felt disgusted with himself. She was so much younger than him, and she was even being courted by the amnesiac boy. Surely she had no interest in a ex-warrior-turned-librarian-single-father. But the idea – the _fact_ – that he had no shot with the pig-tailed girl did not deter him from falling deeper and deeper in love with her and those bright red lips of hers.

When she wasn't around – normally only holidays, or if she managed to come down with the flu – he wondered where her lips got their startling color. It was possible that is was simply natural, but despite his acknowledgment that he tended to realize things later than others, he _knows_ he would have noticed a long time ago if they had _always_ been that color. She had most likely started wearing lip gloss as she got older to bring out the redness, he usually reasoned. The thought that she started wearing it for Raguna nagged at him quite often, and the small glimmer of hope that she began wearing it for _him_ nagged at him even more often.

About two seasons after he first noticed it, it was starting to get old. Slowly, during the night, dreams that used to serve as vivid, bloody replays of his days as a soldier became the place where he could imagine stealing multitudes of kisses from Tori's forbidden, bright red lips. He would awaken the next morning feeling guilty, and avoid her eyes for the majority of the day – though it didn't stop him from glimpsing at her lips just as often as usual.

Raguna stopped by regularly to give her gifts and skim – not _read_, certainly, as he was obviously just trying to impress her – books off the shelves, making her cheeks glow the most adorable shade of pink, which just served to emphasize the brilliant sheen of her lips further. Russell wished more often than he cared to admit that it was _him_ who could make her blush like that. He would stew and glare and grumble all day after the farmer's daily visits, worrying Tori and anyone else who managed to stumble into the library.

Even Cecilia noted her father's new foul mood, and one day tried her best to cheer him up by offering him one of her prized stones that she had collected during her adventures in the caves. The fact that it was a dazzling _ruby_ did little to cheer him up, as it reminded him of her and her lips and the way they curved as she smiled bashfully while Raguna flirted unashamedly. He was so exhausted by his own frustrations that he didn't even try to scold her for disobeying him and going into the caves which she had repeatedly been told were forbidden.

Russell finally snapped when Raguna invited Tori to Moonlit Eve.

Before she could mumble her answer, he had stepped between them. She was startled into silence, her stunning, bright red lips forming a curious frown as she looked up at him. Ignoring Raguna's indignant protests from behind him, he gently placed a hand on each side of her face and finally tasted the lips he had been imagining since her birthday the previous winter.

They – _she_ – tasted like strawberries. Red, ripe and sweet. The kiss was everything he imagined it would be, yet so much better than all of his dreams combined. It began chaste and gentle, but when he felt her begin to respond, he deepened the kiss eagerly. He didn't want it to end, fearing what was to come once he broke away, but he had to breathe eventually, so he pulled away.

After the kiss came a very awkward silence. Raguna stood frozen behind him, mouth hanging open as he tried to process what he had just seen. Tori was equally stoic, though her entire face was a cherry red that still could not obscure her gorgeous, now kiss-swollen lips. Russell was the only one who made a sound – coughing nonchalantly before returning to his position behind the front desk. He went back to the papers he had been pretending to read, and now found his hands to be shaking as he fumbled through them. He refused to look up, though he couldn't even see the words on the pages in front of him now, until he heard the library door open and shut rather quietly.

Raguna was gone; Tori was standing in the same spot, eyes trained on him in a way that made him feel terrified and exhilarated at the same time. Her face had lost some of its color, but her lips were still beautiful, still a dazzling red, and now curling up in a small smile.

He was in heaven.


	8. news letter

**A/N: **Holy crap I finished this one fast, lol. MORE FLUFF. Because, god knows, I can't resist writing fluff. I swear I'll get another angsty one in somewhere. SOMEHOW. D:

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harvest Moon, or these characters, as they belong to Yoshifumi Hashimoto.

* * *

**Not-So-Secret**

With a few exceptions, everyone in town knew how Russell felt for Tori. It had started with Raguna, when he confronted the young amnesiac after one of his usual morning visits. Raguna admitted that he hadn't been serious with Tori in the first place, and happily agreed to be nothing more than friends with the bashful young woman. However, Nicholas had been nearby during their exchange, and had quickly shared the news with Cecilia, then with his mother, then with Neumann, and then with Lukas. While Raguna had planned to keep his mouth shut about Russell's feelings, he quickly found that around mid-afternoon most of the village had started a betting pool on when the two would wed.

The librarian himself was unaware that the knowledge had been spread so quickly, but he eventually noticed the winks and subtle hints directed at him and realized that his secret wasn't so secret anymore. By some miracle, however, Tori had remained uninformed, despite being friends with a few of Kardia's biggest gossips. This both relieved him greatly, and exasperated him to no end. The only reason he could come up with for her still being unaware of his feelings by now was that everyone else had deemed it necessary for _him_ to be the one to finally tell her.

Unfortunately, he had absolutely no idea how to go about doing that.

"You really are bad at this aren't you?" Lady Ann sighed. Russell had run into her at the bar, where he was currently attempting to forget his frustrating predicament. He looked up from his newly purchased drink, revealing his distraught expression. The mother of two sighed again and dragged him over to a table, sitting down beside him and pulling his drink away. Though he frowned at her, he made no move to take it back.

After a minute of stewing silently, he began quietly, "I've tried a couple times already. I just can't get the right words out. I believe she currently thinks I'm in love with a tuna." Lady Ann raised an eyebrow. "Don't ask me how that happened."

"Well then. Let's practice."

"... What?"

"Right now. Say 'I love you, Tori'."

"I can't do that!" Russell protested in a harsh whisper, his face growing a deep shade of red. Lady Ann simply rolled her eyes.

"Then no wonder you're having trouble. Look, Tori's my baby girl, and I believe she deserves someone who can take care of her right. I've liked you since you arrived here with Cecilia, and I know I can entrust her with you. But if you can't just _tell her_, I'm going to have to rethink that."

Russell sat silent, blinking a couple times, as he registered what she had just told him. He had feared that some of the villagers wouldn't approve of his feelings – that was the primary reason why Zavier had not been informed yet – but Lady Ann had acknowledged them and was actually in favor of them.

Realizing what this meant, he took a deep breath, stood up from the table, and headed for the door. Lady Ann watched him with a smile and turned to take care of the drink he had paid for but hadn't taken a sip out of yet.

About five minutes later, Lady Ann heard the bar door opening again and, curious, turned to see who it was. Russell had just walked back in. Prepared to yell at him for chickening out again – she _really_ didn't want to keep giving pep talks, especially to a twenty-something year old that should be able to take care of such things himself – she was silenced when he bent over and kissed her on the cheek.

"Thank you, Lady Ann. I've got some good news for you."

It was at this moment that she noticed his large grin and lip-gloss-coated cheeks, and she let out a chuckle. Now all she had to do was convince him to marry her before her birthday, and she would win that betting pool.


	9. invincible unrivaled

**A/N:** First off, I just want to say to those of you who have reviewed my stories: THANK YOU! Every comment I get makes my day, and keeps me working despite my tendency to take ridiculous amounts of time to update. XD Second, I now have some ANGST for you! _Finally_! I've got a couple more in the works at the moment, as well, and while one is fluff, the rest are all angsty pieces. My fluff-tastic stuff is fun, but I enjoy the challenge of writing angst, so expect more from me in the following updates!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harvest Moon, or these characters, as they belong to Yoshifumi Hashimoto.

* * *

**The Victor**

Raguna liked to consider himself a very accomplished young man.

He had a large house on a farm full of monsters that loved him and helped with farm work and produced valuable goods. He had grown every vegetable, fruit, and flower available, including the mysterious "phantom crops". He had conquered each and every cave, rescuing the large beasts that had been summoned for the evil Sechs Empire's evil plans. He was popular, friends with everyone old and young alike, and loved by several beautiful young women. And this was after he lost his memory and had to start life anew.

The only thing he did not have – as far as he and anyone else knew – was a family, and he was planning on forming one for himself soon. However, there was a problem. The woman he loved was unavailable.

Not that she wasn't single. No, he was positive she had never even _dated_ before.

There weren't that many young men in town anyway, and even if there had been, surely she would have been too shy to put herself out there, choosing to stay inside and read books instead. That hadn't stopped _him_ from discovering her, of course, but he seemed to be the only one who stopped by the library frequently enough to do so anyway.

The unfortunate truth of the matter was that she was unavailable because she was obviously, hopelessly, and frustratingly in love with that idiot of a librarian.

Russell hadn't picked up on it, even through the three years since Raguna moved in and started his life anew. Even before Raguna had fallen in love with her, Tori's love for the older man was clear. He wondered why no one else seemed to mention it or notice it at all when it was so incredibly obvious.

Though his attempts were not rebuffed, they obviously had little effect on the young woman. Gifts of flowers, strawberries, and even her favorite pumpkin pudding did next to nothing to woo her. Her brother, Zavier, refused to give him advice, still rather miffed that Mist had fallen in love him instead – which he made known, rather frequently, was _not_ something he intended to happen. Her mother, Lady Ann, told him to do his best, but had no suggestions on how to win her over. Apparently she was either unaware that her daughter had already devoted her love to someone, or found it useless for anyone else to try to win it.

One day, after he had given her another pumpkin pudding dish – just in case, maybe this time, she discovered that she could no longer live without his delicious gifts and would ask him to wed on the spot – he had decided to idly search for a book to read. After all, with no more caves to conquer, his barns all filled up, and every plant grown, he needed _something_ to help pass the time.

By luck, or perhaps some deity's sense of humor, the first book he pulled out was none other than Tori's diary. Of course, he didn't realize that until _after_ he had flipped through the first couple pages. Once recognizing the book for what it was, he made a move to close it and return it to its resting place before its owner realized he had found it, but paused when his eyes skimmed the current open pages. He raised an eyebrow as he went back and read it over again, and realized that she had written _directions_ for _proposing_. He stood in silence for a brief moment before he promptly shut the book and shoved it back onto the shelf, practically sprinting out of the library and back to his farm.

What did this mean? Obviously she had meant for _someone_ to read that entry, having placed it in such an accessible location, but he already had an idea who she really wanted to see her diary – and it wasn't him.

But coming across this entry also gave him hope. Surely, if he had discovered it, Russell _must_ have stumbled across it at some point in time. He was famous for having read every book resting among the shelves, and Tori's diary must have been resting there for years with all the dust it had on it. If Russell had come across it and _still_ didn't realize that his assistant was completely in love with him, then perhaps this was his chance, he reasoned.

Sure enough, the next holiday, Raguna followed every one of Tori's written wishes, but the time seemed to drag on all day. He had to wait until after nine, as she had instructed, and it was still only seven. He had carried the large milk in his rucksack all day, and the moment Melody opened the bathhouse he had jumped into the water, nearly forgetting to pay her the necessary ten gold. The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering about town, talking to townsfolk as he passed by. By now, most everyone had returned home for the night, but since he was so well-liked, he was allowed in anywhere at anytime. Deciding one more once-over of Tori's diary was needed, he headed for the library.

As he read the page carefully several more times, he failed to hear the approaching footsteps and nearly leapt out of his skin at the sound of Russell's deep voice.

"Finally found it, did you?"

"R-Russell!" he stuttered, fumbling awkwardly to return the diary between the rest of the books on the shelf before giving up and holding it behind his back, blushing madly. It wasn't _quite_ as bad as being caught by Tori, but he was still embarrassed enough to take several extra moments to register what the librarian had just said. "Wait... finally?" Russell's smile was faint, and more resigned and sad than he had seen on the older man's face ever before.

"She'll come to love you more than me some day soon. Take care of her, okay?"

And with that, he left Raguna to himself and his thoughts between the bookshelves.

The wedding was held the next day, after Tori had accepted his proposal. She smiled and blushed and did all the things that made her so beautiful, and when they kissed it was everything he had dreamed of and more, but Raguna wasn't happy like he thought he would be on his wedding day.

Russell and Cecilia were among the last to come up and congratulate the pair, and while they both wished the newlyweds a blissful marriage, Tori's smile became distinctly smaller as Russell turned and walked away with his daughter.

It was in that moment that he understood.

Raguna had once considered the librarian a rival for Tori's love and hand in marriage, but he now recognized him for what he truly was; the unrivaled victor in the battle for her heart.


	10. perfect blue

**A/N:** Here's a tiny little ficlit with slight angst for my lovely readers out there! Sorry for the gap between updates. Had midterms last week, and I've still got one more test coming up. T.T Hadn't had time to do much writing, but then I wrote this up in fifteen minutes though, so go figure. XD

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harvest Moon, or these characters, as they belong to Yoshifumi Hashimoto.

* * *

**Bittersweet**

He thought he would be broken. He thought it would wreck him, losing her to this boy simply because he couldn't speak up soon enough. He thought he would cry and weep and beg the gods every night, wishing for it to just be a dream, a nightmare he would wake up from any moment now.

But he is amazed at how at peace he feels watching her walk down the aisle to stand beside a man that isn't him.

Tori is smiling, cheeks flushed and eyes brimming with tears of joy, standing in a dress of brilliant white that puts every other bride he has ever seen, and ever will see, to shame. He knows for a fact that every single pair of eyes is glued to this young woman and her incredible beauty that everyone in the pews, aside from him, had no idea existed beneath the shyness and glasses. Raguna stands beside her, rivaling her joy as he revels in the fact that this divine girl loves _him_ and has chosen to join him in this ceremony.

Russell approaches after all the other villagers have had their compliments and best wishes heard. Cecilia bounces happily in front of him, grabbing Tori by the hands and asking if she will still stop by the library, to which she beams and nods, promising to come by whenever she has spare time. He doubts she will come through with this promise, knowing this bride will be busy with her new life as a wife, and eventually as a mother. But he keeps quiet as his daughter cheers and then bounds away, signaling that it is his turn to address the newlyweds.

He steps up, and his breath catches in his throat as her eyes turn to him. This moment that he thought would ruin him is surprisingly quick and easy. The words, "The two of you look magnificent. I wish you all the best," fall from his lips with ease, and he turns and walks away, leaving them to their life together full of kisses and touches that he never got to share with her.

And he is happy.

The moment he saw the joy in those eyes of perfect blue as she strolled down the aisle, he knew he could be happy, because she was, too.


	11. the space between dream and reality

**A/N:** It's been a while, but here's another update! It's a bit different from the usual fare, as I tried to leave the ending fairly ambiguous, to allow for both fluffy, angsty and whatever other interpretations people can come up with. I hope you enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harvest Moon, or these characters, as they belong to Yoshifumi Hashimoto.

* * *

**Just One Night**

Russell was half-asleep when he felt the covers shift and a warm body silently join him beneath them. He knew at once that it was not Cecilia, because his daughter was always much louder in her crawling into his bed, and she was much smaller than the figure he felt pressing up against his cool back. She also didn't feel as _warm_ as this particular person, who he had at least discerned was a woman, most likely wearing _very_ little clothing.

He wondered if he was hallucinating. Perhaps something he had let Cecilia help him prepare for dinner earlier that evening had actually sickened him? This seemed highly probable – after all, it hadn't been two weeks since the last time one of his daughter's attempts at making a dish ended with him experiencing odd effects later in the night. Of course, they had never been this pleasant, which made him want to confirm his theory all the more.

He slowly removed the hand he had shoved beneath his pillow from its hiding place and pinched his own cheek as hard as he could. Tearing up a bit as he released himself, he rubbed at the now-tender area on his face before realizing that the warmth and touch of the mystery woman was still present. Pretty certain that he was conscious at this point – though no less tired than he had been when he'd first shoved himself beneath his covers – he surmised that now to prove he wasn't imagining things he would have to confirm that the source of the warmth was actually there. Swallowing louder than he had intended, he slowly reached a hand behind him, and immediately came into contact with the very soft, very warm, very _real_ skin of a young woman's naked thigh.

He retracted his hand after a brief hesitation as if the feeling had burned him, when really it had been one of the most pleasant textures he'd ever encountered. He felt his face beginning to warm and redden steadily as the thought that, "_There is a scantily-clad woman in my bed_," became more and more plausible.

Realizing that this was not entirely appropriate with a barely-ten-year-old girl in the next room over, he quickly tried to adjust so that the unknown woman's front was not pressed so closely against him. He immediately missed the warmth, but found it easier to roll over and face this strange circumstance after pulling away.

Russell liked to think that his eye sight wasn't all that bad without his glasses, but the sight before him made him severely doubtful that his eyes were in fine working order. The fact was, an _angel_ was laying before him, and that simply couldn't be. Despite the darkness, the dim light of the moon coming through the windows illuminated long, blonde hair pooling beneath her cheek and neck, creamy, unblemished skin and a pair of delicate blue eyes peering intently into his own. A pair of eyes he knew all too well.

"Tori," he breathed, once again starting to believe that this was, sadly, just a dream. Even without her pigtailed braids and trademark glasses, he recognized her. How could he not when they spent practically every day together? Despite this, he still had the nagging concern that Cecilia was only a room away, and opened his mouth only to be silenced by a kiss. His words were quickly swallowed up and forgotten as the kiss deepened, and only after several breathless moments did he remember his original protest. Reaching his hands out from beneath the blankets to grip her bare shoulders and force her back gently, the kiss broke with a wet "pop," followed by a minute of heavy breathing as the two regained their wits.

"T-Tori," he fumbled, more than a little embarrassed by the shakiness of his voice before clearing his throat and attempting again.

"_Tori_, I-- we-- it's just-- Cecilia is _right next door_... I-I can't."

"No, she isn't," came the reply, the angel's voice more serene and calm than he had ever heard before. "She's spending the night at Sabrina's home this evening."

Again, he began to convince himself that he really was still asleep. He had forgotten that tonight was Cecilia's long-awaited slumber party with her young friend Nicholas, leaving the library child-free for the night. These factors combined made him lose all desire to protest when the young woman opposite him quietly shifted closer to him once again. With her body pressed up against him once again, he decided that she was, in fact, _completely_ naked, and failed to prevent his body's natural reaction to the contact. She only smiled, which in effect, turned him on even _more_, and he instinctively reached a hand up to cup her face and began pulling her chin up to meet his when she spoke.

"Russell..."

Her voice snapped him back to attention and he almost let go of her, but she had placed her own slender fingers above his own, keeping them in place.

"Russell," she echoed, her voice strong yet soft as her smile disappeared and her eyes searched his own, "spend the night with me. Just one night..."

He paused, startled by the sudden nervousness in her voice, before smiling himself and stealing a kiss. Her eyes still held doubt and question, and he answered in a quiet hum, "As you wish. But does it have to be _just_ one night?"

--

When Russell awoke later, he could not recall her answer, or if she had even answered at all. The next several hours were filled with surprisingly passionate sex he hadn't experienced in a long while. Despite her inexperience, she still looked ethereal in the moonlight from over his shoulders, and when she fell asleep in his arms, she felt even more like an angel. However, even without his glasses, he could tell that his bed was now decidedly empty, with the exception of himself.

Maybe it had been a dream? He dressed slowly, still a little tired despite not being entirely positive that he hadn't _imagined_ all that exercise, before heading downstairs to open up the library. He had slept in today without Cecilia home to wake him, but there was still another ten minutes before he actually needed to unlock the front doors. However, just as he reached the bottom of the stairs, he heard a gentle knock and let out a sigh, though a smile now rested on his face.

"No harm in opening early, I suppose."

Upon opening the large front doors, he was quite surprised to find Tori smiling shyly at him – though he supposed by now, he really shouldn't be – her nose pink from the winter cold and her breaths visible in the morning air. After a moment of hesitation, he quickly ushered her inside, closing the doors to stop any more cold from pouring in.

"I... I hope you don' min' me being... early," she mumbled as she peeled off her hat and gloves, her voice influenced by a developing cold he noted.

"N-No, it's fine."

His own voice betrayed some of his confusion, but the young woman didn't notice. In fact, for the remainder of the day – up until lunch time where he demanded she go home since she neither looked nor sounded very good – she barely paid him any mind, though he realized that was only natural. After all, he'd only imagined everything.

But the memory of that night continued to bother him for the rest of the day, the rest of the week, and pretty much through the rest of the year. In that obscure place between dream and reality, while he had reasoned that Tori probably _hadn't_ stopped by and visited him, he wondered if he had conjured the image of Tori himself. Or, if an angel actually had stopped by to grant a redeemed man his only wish:

Just one night with the girl of his dreams.


	12. hey, you know

**A/N**: About time I get back to work on this thing, lol.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harvest Moon, Rune Factory, or these characters, as they belong to Yoshifumi Hashimoto.

* * *

**The Invitation**

"Would you like to go on a date with me?"

Tori froze, the book in her extended hand dropping to the floor before it reached the shelf, as she tried to process the question just asked of her.

"W-W-What?" she stuttered after a full minute, her hand dropping to her side slowly.

"I asked if you wouldn't mind going on a date with me."

How was he so calm about this? She felt incredibly uncomfortable and embarrassed, and not at all happy despite the invitation extended to her. Her face was on fire, and she was sure if she turned to look at him now, he'd see the cherry red of her cheeks, so she decided to keep her back to him. She had never been asked on a date before, and she hadn't really thought about what it would be like if she was – nor how she would reply if it was the man currently in her company doing the asking – so she was fairly lost as to how to respond.

What didn't help her decision making was that she had heard the same man that was asking her on a date now ask the same question to Lara, the beautiful nurse that worked in Edward's clinic next door, not even three days ago. Would he be asking Felicity – the sickly but pretty girl that worked in the shop a block over – three days after this, or even sooner if things didn't go well?

Still keeping silent as she continued to think, her eyes drifted slowly downwards until she spotted the book she had dropped. She reached down to pick it up but was beaten to it by a larger, familiar hand. Her blush reddened tenfold as she recognized instantly who it belonged to. She stood back up quickly, returning her gaze to the books on the shelf, but when she felt a hand on her shoulder her eyes immediately snapped upwards.

Her eyes met with his briefly, and then he was looking at her would-be suitor and the soft smile that had just been on his face was suddenly replaced by a larger, faker grin.

"Raguna, would you mind terribly if I stole Tori away? I have several new arrivals that need shelving, and I require the assistance of my assistant," Russell asked with perfunctory kindness, still smiling in that unnatural way.

"Oh, of course. Sounds like a lot of work. See you later," the younger man answered in a friendly tone. He smiled and gave them both a wave before heading for the door, apparently unaware of Russell's less-than-pleased attitude during his none-too-subtle dismissal.

After the farmer had left, the two standing between the shelves remained silent for quite some time. Tori felt some of the color leaving her face, but the heat remained with Russell's hand still on her shoulder. When she finally trusted her tongue to not trip over every word, she opened her mouth to speak but was again beaten to it by the sound of his deep, familiar voice as he reached over her to finally return the dropped book to the shelf.

"Hey, you know," he began, his voice quieter than she was used to, and with an almost undetectable waver. He took his hand off her shoulder to push up his glasses and she immediately missed the warmth.

"This may be a bit late, but... I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner... with me."

Surprisingly, though she had just experienced her first date invitation only minutes earlier and suffered through serious hesitation and confusion as a result, this time she knew her answer rather quickly with no indecision or unhappiness at all.

"... Yes. I'd like that very much," she answered with a smile, and stood on the tips of her toes to kiss him on the cheek. Russell stood immobile for a moment before his face turned a rather cute shade of pink and he coughed into his fist.

"Y-Yes, well. I actually do have some new arrivals that need to be shelved. Care to help me before dinner?" he asked, still unable to look her in the eye. She stifled a giggle and nodded, carefully placing her hand in his.


End file.
